This is not a love story, or so the tagline goes. It’s also not a chick flick, which in this instance works for the films benefit. (500) Days of Summer is a romantic-comedy that is completely different from every other film in the genre, and that fact makes the movie worth watching and much more realistic.
It’s the story of Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his relationship with Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) over the course of 500 days. Tom, a greeting card writer, is smitten with Summer from day one, when she first came to work in his office. The two quickly hit it off, and before long Tom is in love and believes he has found “the one.”
Tom is a hopeless romantic; he believes completely in love and the idea of soul mates. Summer though; well she’s the complete opposite. She doesn’t believe in love and doesn’t want to be in a serious relationship, even though her actions tell Tom otherwise. When things don’t work out, Tom hits bottom and wallows around in self-pity. He wants to win her back, and he believes he has a shot at that following a wedding the two attend.
I like everything Zooey is in, especially if she has a starring role in it, so it isn’t much of a surprise that I really like this movie a great deal. Zooey does a really awesome job in the role of Summer and it’s easy to see why Tom is infatuated with her despite her seeming inability to be in a serious relationship. Likewise, Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a fantastic job as Tom Hansen (which isn’t surprising as he usually does a great job with his roles).
If you’re a fan of either Zooey or Gordon-Levitt, or just like good movies, this is a Blu-ray you definitely want in your collection. Outside of being a really good movie, the Blu-ray is sporting great picture quality, a digital copy, and numerous bonus features (music videos, a making of featurette, trailers, audio commentary, and interview with Zooey and Joseph, and more). This Blu-ray release is highly recommended.
(500) Days of Summer gets a four out of five: GREAT.
